Goofs

No version of the DC-9 / MD-80 has the ability to dump fuel.

In order to fly above the bad weather, the pilot requests clearance for 40,000 feet. However the maximum cruising altitude for that airplane, (McDonnell Douglas MD-80), is only 37,000 feet.

When the Captain is on the radio asking "Is anyone on this channel?" he should have been asking "Is anyone on this frequency?" Air band communications are not channelized as in Ch 1, Ch 2, etc. You tune to a frequency, not a channel. Marine radio, however, is channelized.

No pilot asks for 40,000 feet. They ask for flight level four zero zero.

As the plane enters the storm, Capt. Torrance requests clearance to 40,000 ft, but just prior to that, a shot of the altimeter already showed 40,000 ft.

After the decent to the island, the cabin is seen with oxygen masks only being dropped above the seats that were occupied. In reality, the masks would drop for every seat. However, the dropping was triggered by an electrical malfunction, rather than a drop in cabin pressure, so it could have affected only some of the masks.

The plane loses all electronics but when they try to land, there is an electronic warning announcing "Low altitude." EDIT: The pilot makes the comment "Well, THAT still works" so it not a goof, per se.

The airline in the movie is based in NewYork but is flying a route from Singapore to Japan. It is EXTREMELY unlikely for an airline to have a route between two other countries it is not based in without first stopping in its home country. This is known as the 7th freedom of the air and is very rare to be granted.

It is very rare and "EXTREMELY unlikely" for an airliner to stop first in the USA on the way from Singapore to Japan.

The poster for the movie shows a plane in the background with wing-mounted engines, however, in the movie the plane features twin, tail-mounted engines similar to the MD-80.

Movie posters are not the responsibility of the movie makers.

When they lose their electrical system (highly improbable), it's dawn, and there's absolutely NO REASON to ditch the airplane or land on the island. It's a flyable airplane with plenty of fuel.

Flyable? No avionics, meaning the radio is out, no navigation systems (GPS is out), no dials, gauges or instruments, and with the fuel system out, it won't be flyable for long.

After pilot announces for clearing take off from Singapore, camera shows a flight computer, which indicates flight is at 40000 feet and 250 knots. But, plane is on the ground and at full stop.

When he finally gets a hold of his daughter, he asks her to get a pen and she starts frantically looking for pen and paper. Problem is, she was on a computer when he called. She could have typed it out. Or put the details on her phone.

On the airport departures board in the beginning of the movie, several destinations are spelled incorrectly: Syndey (Sydney), Soeul (Seoul), Osaka/Kensai (Osaka/Kansai).

The exterior shots of the airplane are of a McDonnell Douglas MD-80 series aircraft. The cabin shots are of the same plane but all of the Flight Deck (cockpit) shots are of an AirBus A320 series aircraft, with the addition of a control yoke that is not found on Airbus aircraft after the A300/A310 series of aircraft. Airbus aircraft have used side sticks since the A320 first flew in 1987.

The crew is told there's a landing strip 50 miles away, and they're able to reach it 45 seconds later with no indication that more time has passed. At their stated speed of 135 knots, it would have taken them 20 minutes to cover that distance.

The plane did not leave any tracks on the dirt road.

When the pilot gets back to the cockpit after checking on the passengers, he sits down and he and the copilot start going through the emergency checklist. While they are doing this when the scene goes back and forth from pilot to copilot the copilot's seat belt is on in one shot and off the next. He doesn't have time to take off his belts and then put them back on. And he wouldn't do that anyway.

The plane did not leave any tracks on the dirt road.

Pilot has a paper map but he doesn't know where the plane landed. But everybody has a smartphone and can use it to find the GPS coordinates.

Gerard Butler starts off with his native Scottish accent but after one hour his character begins speaking with a noticeable American accent.

When characters talk on the radio, they are heard using the number "nine." In aviation radio communications, however, this should always be pronounced as "niner" to avoid confusion with the similar sounding number "five."

An air traffic controller refers to "40,000 feet." They would refer to it as FL400.

When the lightning strike hits the plane, the copilot's safety harness keeps going on and off multiple times and it is really noticeable when he is using the torch.